Friday, October 8, 2004
African Origins: Exploring Human Evolution in Ethiopia
Dr. Tim White, UC Berkeley
Even before beginning his college career in Southern California, Tim White has had an insatiable curiosity regarding evolution, especially that of our own species. For more than 20 years his professional and academic research has taken him throughout the world, especially Europe and East Africa. He holds a faculty position in the Department of Integrative Biology, and a research position with the Laboratory for Human Evolutionary Studies, both at the University of California, Berkeley.
For the last twenty years a large team of geologists, archaeologists, and paleontologists have converged at the Middle Awash study area in Ethiopia. The results of this extensive research establish this area as the longest hominid-inhabited geographic locale anywhere on Earth. Sediments more than one-half mile in thickness reveal a variety of fossil hominids along with a long record of technological development. Approximately 14,000 fossil vertebrate specimens were collected including the remains of the newly recognized hominids (Ardipithecus kadabba, Ar. ramidus, Australopithecus garhi, and Homo sapiens idaltu). The Middle Awash record and its contents therefore witness nearly six million years of hominid evolution and technological development.
U.C. Berkeley Professor Tim White has co-led the Middle Awash research project in Ethiopia for over twenty years.
Friday, October 29, 2004
Minerals as Medicine
by Dr. Jean DeMouthe
While most consider minerals as simply geological curiosities, others find them as rich economic resources as well as artistic specimens. Yet, there exists another, very significant aspect of earth’s dazzling display of inorganic wonders – medicine! Dr. Jean DeMouthe is Senior Collections Manager for Geology at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Her intriguing story includes historical and modern uses of minerals in all sorts of medicinal ways; everything from ground-up rocks taken internally to talismans used to ward off toe fungus! Her photographs will illustrate natural and worked specimens of many of the minerals that have been used over the centuries to fight everything from depression to diseases of the liver.
This collection is temporarily on display at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School. Dr. DeMouthe has also been instrumental in arranging temporary loans to our museum from Cal Academy, including casts of a Tyrannosaurus rex skull, a 22 foot-long ichthyosaur from Nevada, a theropod footprint, a basilosaurus (early whale), and others.
Friday, November 19
Winged Migration: A Monarch Story
by John Lane
The Monarch butterfly, like no other, has captivated the interest of professional and novice alike for more than one hundred years. This boldly marked beauty, truly a butterfly beyond borders, steals the show with its annual two-way migration on the North American continent. Their full-circle route involves a sequence of individual butterfly generations, spanning huge distances, from Canada to Mexico, involving several generations. The Monarch is an endless supply of intrigue. Toxins (cardiac glycosides) that move from milkweed plants through caterpillars and butterflies, and eventually to predators has been the focus of extensive scientific interest and research.
The ecology, genetics, evolution, and migration of this enchanting insect supply endless research potential. Beyond the genuine fascination of the general public, this butterfly remains an important target of many, varied scientific lines of research.
John Lane’s expertise in western butterflies began more than 45 years ago; and his continuous study of monarchs in 1978. His research, consultations, teaching, and trip leading make him one of California’s leading authorities on the history and study of the California Monarch. He has worked closely with the World Wildlife Fund, California Fish and Game and the Xerces Society, and has been an invited lecturer at a number of international Monarch conferences in the U.S. and Mexico.
Friday, December 3
A Celebration of Raptors
by John Hendrickson
John Hendrickson has published thousands of images in books, magazines, calendars, posters, and note cards. His award winning photographs have been exhibited in over forty of America's major museums. His photos have been published in National Geographic, Sierra Club, Time-Life, National Wildlife, Audubon, Newsweek, Nature Conservancy, and Outdoor Photographer. He has illustrated and authored several books, and has many front covers to his credit. John is an extremely dedicated and patient photographer, willing to spend days working on a single photograph. His photographic presentation for the museum, a visual celebration of raptors, is an exploration of these magnificent California birds, their adaptations, ecology and conservation. John also runs and teaches at the Woodleaf Outdoor School (Northeast of Marysville), the Radin Raptor Center, and the Kestrels Across America Program.
This program is co-sponsored by the Sierra Foothills Audubon Society.